Scolopendra sp. white legs emergency situation!

Bunyan van Asten

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 5, 2016
Messages
271
So, a friend of mine who goes by @kj__i__guess on instagram recently got an S. white legs, and attempted to sex it by pinning it down, turning it around and doing the procedure whilst its conscious. He thinks its a male, but the problem is that his sexual organs still aren't retracted (24h after the sexing attempt), and he's freaking out about it.
He's never used this site before, but could you guys give me some info, so i can pass it onto him? IMG_20210408_131228_096.jpg
 

8 legged

Arachnoprince
Joined
Nov 25, 2020
Messages
1,069
A friend of mine says that your friend messed up with the animal. He asked me to align this 😉
 

Bunyan van Asten

Arachnoknight
Joined
Oct 5, 2016
Messages
271
No i'm serious, i'm too broke to even buy south american pedes right now, and for some reason he's too lazy to learn how a basic forum site works
but what do you mean with aligning?
 

Andrew101

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 7, 2016
Messages
41
He pushed it too hard and far out hence gave it prolapse, it's detrimental to the animal because it'll dry up and get infected.
 

Alonso99

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
537
Unfortunately, it seems your friend prolapsed the centipede. The animal will probably die from an infection now.
 

TheHouseof21pairs

Arachnosquire
Joined
Dec 27, 2020
Messages
102
How’s the Pede doing??? He’s bleeding right to be freaking out! Your friend messed up the Centipede, it’s not likely gonna survive. If it didn’t retract within the 24hrs it never will on its own. The only way is surgery and It ain’t that easy to find a vet that will perform it on a scolopendra. This sexing thing of centipedes is a very delicate practice and it’s evident that your friend was not careful enough. Last but not least, the knocking off water method worked just fine for decades and most of us keepers still using, with the right attentions obviously, so I don’t see why stressing the shit out of a centipede pinning it down and pushing out its reproductive organs! All that said, I’m really sorry for the pede , it looks like it’s a fine specimen.
 

Thegreatiandi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 6, 2021
Messages
12
Just, wow.:astonished: I feel bad for the Scolopendra. Poor guy.

I've heard of owner's wanting to sex the Centipede just so they know the gender. I can care less the sex unless I'm trying to mate them.

If it's just for me, then no need to stress the Centipede, imo.
 

Jumbie Spider

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 29, 2020
Messages
369
Just, wow.:astonished: I feel bad for the Scolopendra. Poor guy.

I've heard of owner's wanting to sex the Centipede just so they know the gender. I can care less the sex unless I'm trying to mate them.

If it's just for me, then no need to stress the Centipede, imo.
I am developing a theory that you don't even need to touch them to sex them. If you observe them carefully enough for enough time, eventually you will catch them with their genitals out... depending on the view you can just look at try to determine the sex. Not bulletproof and requires lots of things to align just right, but last night I was able to observe one of my centipedes and determine she's a female by just looking at her protruding genitals when she's relaxed... if that makes any sense (know how weird this sounds).
 

The Spider House

Arachnobaron
Joined
Aug 12, 2020
Messages
534
I am developing a theory that you don't even need to touch them to sex them. If you observe them carefully enough for enough time, eventually you will catch them with their genitals out... depending on the view you can just look at try to determine the sex. Not bulletproof and requires lots of things to align just right, but last night I was able to observe one of my centipedes and determine she's a female by just looking at her protruding genitals when she's relaxed... if that makes any sense (know how weird this sounds).
... If you observe them carefully enough for enough time, eventually you will catch them with their genitals out...
Sounds like a nightclub! 🤣🤣🤣
 

Jumbie Spider

Arachnobaron
Joined
Oct 29, 2020
Messages
369
Sounds like a nightclub!
I need to get out more! 🤣

Let's just say, you have to be ready (just like in a nightclub). Take for instance last night, was going to turn off the lights and saw the pede just hanging out there... Luckily I had my phone with me to take a quick snap and a video.
Pic came out like crap, but you get the idea... I also took a short video that came out better, and probably can be used as a valid ID.

IMG_0678.jpg
 

Thegreatiandi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 6, 2021
Messages
12
I need to get out more! 🤣

Let's just say, you have to be ready (just like in a nightclub). Take for instance last night, was going to turn off the lights and saw the pede just hanging out there... Luckily I had my phone with me to take a quick snap and a video.
Pic came out like crap, but you get the idea... I also took a short video that came out better, and probably can be used as a valid ID.

View attachment 382022
That's some voyeuristic stuff for you, I tell you, lol.

... If you observe them carefully enough for enough time, eventually you will catch them with their genitals out...
Sounds like a nightclub! 🤣🤣🤣
I live in Las Vegas.

I can assure you, this is absolutely some nightclub stuff:singing::cool: lol.
 

basin79

ArachnoGod
Active Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2013
Messages
5,893
With no update to this I'm guessing the centipede died as many predicted?
 

Thegreatiandi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 6, 2021
Messages
12
This isn't about the pede not eating.

Yours will be in premoult.
I know his was injured due to trying to sex the Pede...I was just saying I'm afraid of mine passing as well😔 .

I hope it's pre-molting though... Just seems like forever...but I've also never had a Gigante before 🤷🏽‍♂️.... maybe they take a bit longer than the Vietnamese I've owned.
 

TheHouseof21pairs

Arachnosquire
Joined
Dec 27, 2020
Messages
102
First of all, the proper name is Scolopendra sp. “Gigantea” and not gigante. Second, there could be very well a few different reasons to why your scolopendra is not eating for over a month. Premolt?( if it’s buried for that long without surfacing it could well be it), temps fluctuations?? Hemolymph poison? (Over feeding at lowish temps), principle of mycosis?( lack of aggressive behaviour towards food, sluggish, very skittish). As you can see diagnosis may vary. Observe your pedes, not only look at them, it will help you to get to know them better. Hope this help.
Take care.
 

Thegreatiandi

Arachnopeon
Joined
Apr 6, 2021
Messages
12
First of all, the proper name is Scolopendra sp. “Gigantea” and not gigante. Second, there could be very well a few different reasons to why your scolopendra is not eating for over a month. Premolt?( if it’s buried for that long without surfacing it could well be it), temps fluctuations?? Hemolymph poison? (Over feeding at lowish temps), principle of mycosis?( lack of aggressive behaviour towards food, sluggish, very skittish). As you can see diagnosis may vary. Observe your pedes, not only look at them, it will help you to get to know them better. Hope this help.
Take care.
Thanks for the advice. I would definitely say she's sluggish. I was told to not use any kind of heating apparatus to keep the humidity up. So once I change that, she barely moved at all....like at all.

So I reintroduced a bit of heat back to the enclosure and now the humidity is high again.. but she definitely is super sluggish. Better than no heat...but still. And the not eating is really what's worrying me. It's almost been 2 months now. She does have a bit of mycosis.. but honestly I'm not exactly sure how to get rid of that.

I've heard different things like, pull all the substrate out and start with non damp substrate instead. I spoke with the pet shop and they say this species needs to have a nice damp humid enclosure though. So, honestly I'm just not sure. Like I said previously, I've only had the Vietnamese species never this one.

So I'm just being sure to keep water in her dish, humidity up and every couple weeks dropping in some sort of food. Even though she's not eating any of it.

Again though, I appreciate the advice.
 

TheHouseof21pairs

Arachnosquire
Joined
Dec 27, 2020
Messages
102
You’re in for a heartache. Heating a fossorial arthropod substrate is like steam cooking a lobster plus, you’re are giving the best condition for mycosis to develop and spread so quickly that you’ll have no centipede by next Xmas. And your answer is yes. Your best bet( not scientifically proven and neither a magic formula) to stop the spreading is to replace the substrate with a bone dry one and a nice large water dish with fresh clean water. Pet shops know <edit> all about centipedes and misinformation in some cases could be fatal.
Last but not least. Avoid sudden parameters changes. They’ll stress the animal.
Hope this helps.
Table care
 
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